Norman Mailer will read from The Castle in the Forest at the Congregational United Church of Christ. For tickets, visit Harvard Book Store or call 617-661-1515. Tickets are still available according to the website.

UPDATE: This event has been sold out. However, the pleasant person we spoke with at the Harvard Book Store said that, if you're really amped up about the reading, you can arrive at the church early, and they'll place you in empty seats if someone doesn't show up.

American literature's Godzilla is coming to town. We don't mean any disrespect toward Norman Mailer with that comment, none whatsoever. It's practically impossible to discuss contemporary American literature without bringing up Mailer, given his prodigious output of novels and willingness to tackle any subject.

Let's see - what hasn't Mailer covered? He's hit the Vietnam War, Marilyn Monroe, and Jesus. His latest topic is the early life of Hitler.

And what hasn't Mailer done? He boxed, he co-founded the Village Voice, he stabbed one of his wives with a penknife, and he is the president and founding member of the I-Hate-Michiko-Kakutani Club. (Kakutani is a book reviewer who critiqued Mailer, and Mailer's hung on to that fact like a dog worrying a hambone.) Even odder, he made an appearance on Gilmore Girls.

The man is crazy. The man is a legend. If you attend this reading, anything could happen.

In an interesting twist to the event, Mailer doesn't want to see any of you rabid fans bringing his other books for signing. He wants you to be focused on The Castle in the Forest, so you can put that copy of Armies of the Night back on the shelf, buddy.

Screengrab of Norman Mailer guesting on the Gilmore Girls from YouTube. You gotta see it to believe it.